NIMBY

Part of Oakland’s alternative art charmÂ is the questionably legal (or illegal?) spaces where art happens strangely or dangerously. NIMBY, the warehouse space on 28th in West Oakland, was one of those places that I never knew if it was legal or not to be there, but I didn’t care.

I sawÂ the Bay Area’sÂ own Sesame Speed Metal bandÂ Cookie MongoloidÂ there one time, years ago, and nearly died laughing while being pelted in the noggin’ with chocolate chip cookies. It felt apocalyptic.

Â I watched East Bay Rats fights there and attended fundraisers for various Burning Man projects. I even got to see Rosanna Scimecca’s incredibleÂ Cleavage in SpaceÂ art piece off the playa and up close at NIMBY.

Well, Sept. 10, there was a fire at NIMBY. No one was hurt, thankfully, but I knew when I read the story in our paper that that was going to be the end of the space. It is. They are not zoned for the great things they do in that warehouse and when there’s a fight between art and zoning, zoning always wins.

On NIMBY’s Web site you can donate money to the artists still there so they can pay their rent for the rest of their lease.

But right now, we say goodbye to a great space that embodied underground Oaktown.